Cheat It!
by penaschmidt
Summary: Mrs Diamond gives James an ultimatum. Do well on his history midterm or come back home to Minnesota. James faces a moral dilemma.


Holy Jeez! I don't even know where the hell this popped up from. This is the first time I have written anything that isn't Kenlos, so I wasn't really expecting flow, but hey, I think I got there. I also borrowed the title from Hannah Montana where Jackson cheats.

James had never really been what anyone would call 'smart'. Sure, he got by most of the time, but in order to do so, he had to work hard. Back in Minnesota he had kept about a C + average, which his parents were quite content with because they knew James was good at other things and he wasn't an academic, but that he still tried his best to keep reasonable grades.

But since the boys had been in L.A, his grades had dropped drastically and he was just barely passing. Even Carlos was doing better than him and that hadn't happened since they were in the second grade. It wasn't that he wasn't trying, it was just with all the stuff with the band and Gustavo and the cute California girls, he just didn't have the kind of time he needed to put into his studies. And as far as James was concerned, who needed high school when he was now a famous singer in a band. He was only still there because he had to be. But after a stern phone call from his mother he realised just how important staying in school was.

The boys had just returned from a nice relaxing session at the Palmwoods pool after a long day in rehearsal, where they slumped down on the couch in exhaustion when they saw Mumma Knight on the phone looking particularly disappointed. Kendall mouthed a 'who is it?' to which his mother replied with holding the phone out saying "James, your mother wants to speak to you."

James looked up in worry, wondering why his mother was calling him when she usually called at the same time every week. Tuesdays at 8pm. But it was Saturday at 6. He took the phone from Mrs Knight, albeit a little hesitantly and began a conversation with his mother that would ultimately create some real problems for James.

"Hi Mom"

"Hey, baby, how are you?"

"I'm good, but mom, why are you calling me tonight, its Saturday"

Mrs Diamond sighed "Your grades are slipping Jamie and Mrs Knight just told me that she spoke with Miss Collins and that you failed your last test? Is that true?"

James looked defeated. He didn't even know that Mrs Knight had talked to Miss Collins about the boys' performances and least of all that she would be on to his mother so quickly, he had only found out himself on Thursday. "Yeah, but I'm trying really hard, it's just that Gustavo had us doing extra rehearsals for this charity event thing so I just didn't have enough time to study." It was always the excuse he gave himself when he kept getting worse and worse in his tests.

"That's what I'm worried about sweetie; maybe this band thing isn't good for you. You just have too much on your plate and all I'm saying is maybe you should just focus on school right now and then focus on your dream after you graduate?"

"NO WAY! YOU CANNOT TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME!"

"James Isaac Diamond, never yell at me like that ag – " "I'm sorry mom, I just…please, give me another chance. I'll bring up my grades and prove to you that I can handle everything on my plate. I just really don't want to give this up.

Mrs Diamond contemplated James' request. She knew how much this meant to James, but she was just worried that Big Time Rush wouldn't work out and he wouldn't have his education to fall back on. There was silence for a good minute and James waited for her response with baited breath.

"Jen tells me you have your history midterm coming up. If you do well and prove to me you can do this…I'll let you stay"

"YES! THANKYOU SO MUCH MOM, THIS MEANS SO MUCH TO ME, YOU ARE THE BEST, I LOVE YOU!"

"I know it does Jamie, I want you to do well and this is why I'm giving you another chance, don't let me down and more importantly don't let yourself down. I love you too. Bye"

James sobered after he heard his mum say _don't let me down _and wasn't so happy anymore, so he gave a quick "bye" and hung up the phone. Nevertheless, James knew he would have to study hard in order to do well enough to stay in L.A so he was going to enlist some help from the smartest kid he knew. Logan. James knew he couldn't do this on his own because he hadn't been properly focused the whole time they had been in L.A so he was way behind and Miss Collins was apparently notorious for giving ferocious midterms, especially in history because it was her major in college. He wouldn't ask Logan now, it had gotten late and it was a Saturday, nobody wants to study on a Saturday, not even freaky boy geniuses like Logan.

So, the next day, James approached Logan with the request to help him study. Logan was surprised that James had asked because he knew that he hated studying. James explained his situation and that he knew he needed help. Logan was quick to agree. Logan even made a study plan for the entire week of what day would be which topic. It made James' head spin; he didn't even know they had learnt half these topics, was he really that far behind?

The next week was full of hours and hours of study with Logan. Carlos and Kendall sometimes joining in on the sessions, they had the test too after all. James had worked his butt off and he was just hoping he had done enough. He was somewhat optimistic until he heard Ozzy and a few other guys talking about how hard Miss Collins was making the test this year and that they weren't going to take any chances. They were going to cheat.

James had never even considered cheating before, he thought it was wrong. But being in L.A with his buds, singing, meant too much to him and he couldn't risk losing it. There was a voice in his head that sounded oddly like Logan's telling him how hard he'd worked and that he didn't need to do this. Then the little devil of his conscience would pop up saying how hard he'd worked for his dream and was he really going to throw it all away when he could just sneak a few answers onto his arms.

James battled with his conscience the entire weekend. He hadn't been studying because Logan said it was best to have a day of rest right before a big test, because if you had studied hard enough, like he told James he had, then that last day wouldn't matter. Lying in bed Sunday night was when James had finally decided that he couldn't risk it. There was no way he was giving himself any chance to fail. He needed to do this. After James decided, he was able to fall into a slightly fitful sleep.

James woke up early the next morning in order to prepare his 'cheat sheet'. Which was just writing notes on his arms. Carlos woke up because of the light and was curious as to what the hell James was doing at this time of the morning, seeing if a tattoo would look good there?

"James, what on Earth are you doing?"

James looked up stunned. "Ah, nothing, go back to sleep Carlos, we don't have to get up for school for another hour"

Carlos was not convinced so he got up out of his bed and walked over to James, grabbing his arm. "This is the stuff we've been learning in history, James, why are you writing…oh my god, you're going to cheat, aren't you?"

James pulled his arm away in shame and looked down on the ground. "You don't understand"

"Oh, I understand plenty, I'm gonna go tell Logan and Kendall so maybe they can talk some sense into you"

"No, Carlos, wait." But it was too late; Carlos had already walked out of the room, going to wake the other two boys up. James just waited for the lecture he was going to receive.

"What is this about you cheating?" Kendall stormed in the room accusingly. Logan just looked disappointed. A look way worse than anything Kendall and Carlos had been saying.

"I need to pass this test"

"Would you cheat in hockey, would you cheat on a girl? No, so why would you think it is okay to cheat on a test? What if you get caught, do you think your mom is going to let you stay if she finds out you cheated?" Kendall threw out question after question. Kendall didn't understand, being here meant everything to him and he wasn't going to risk that, would he cheat in hockey, no, because he was good at that, on a girl, of course not, he wasn't like that. It's just what he needs to do right now.

"Yeah" Carlos agreed, "He's right James. Tell him Logan."

"I don't understand James, we worked so hard. You don't need to do this, you can pass this test without cheating, I know you can"

Logan's faith in him made James crumble. He couldn't take this anymore; he needed to get out of here before they convinced him not to cheat. He stormed out of the room after yelling "That's right you don't understand, I can't screw up" and continued his morning routine of getting ready.

Kendall and Carlos were both furious at James for even thinking of cheating and they kept making jabs at him during breakfast. Saying things like "do you think Miss Collins is not going to be suspicious that you're wearing a jacket in this weather?" James tried his best to ignore them and for the most part was successful. He was just glad that they weren't going to dob him in, which he had expected after the way they had lectured him. What he couldn't ignore however, was Logan's silence.

The boys all walked out of apartment 2J heading to class, Logan giving one last disappointed look at James putting his jacket on. James was having an internal battle the entire elevator ride. Much like the one he had over the weekend when he was initially deciding whether he should cheat or not, this one was just 50 times worse.

The boys walked to their seats in silence and got out there number two pencils and prepared themselves for the test. James, however, raised his hand and asked "Miss Collins, may I quickly go to the bathroom?"

"Sure James, but be quick, the test is about to begin"

James quickly ran out of the room. Carlos lent over to Logan and said "do you think he is going to the bathroom to write more notes on his arms because he couldn't finish this morning?"

Logan simply shrugged, not wanting to think about it. Miss Collins waited until the scheduled time of the test and James still was not back, but nonetheless began the test anyway. When James walked back in as quietly as possible to sit at his desk, Miss Collins handed him his paper as Logan looked up and saw that James wasn't wearing his jacket anymore and that his arm was red and looked like it had been rubbed raw. Logan gave James a smile and mouthed "good luck" to which James nodded and smiled back. Logan was proud of him for not cheating even when he was risking what was everything to him, but more importantly James was proud of himself.

This somehow turned out to be the longest thing I have ever written. I know it's still only a one shot but that's an achievement for me. Writing James was kinda fun, I love that little bug-a-lugs. On a side note, I like how I write 'mom' when I am writing dialogue, but just story I write it like 'mum' (because I'm Australian)I think it's because I imagine it in their voices, ceebs changing them.

**So, hey, review if you like, or not, whatever floats your boat. **


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